November Simply Books! Meeting

This month’s meeting was jam-packed! With conversation, with debate, with laughs, with friendly sharing of hobbies and travels, and with people. November’s meeting had the most people attend so far this season, which is great!

Unfortunately I had to duck out at the two-hour mark. The meeting continued well beyond that, however.

Here are the titles that generated so much conversation!

“Daughters of India: Art and Identity” by Stephen Huyler
A local expert on India, this book of Huyler’s focuses on many women folk artists from India. It gives a great sense
of their lives and their region, with beautiful photography.

“Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness Singing with Others” by Stacy Horn
A memoir about choir singing. Horn’s experiences are weaved together with a history of choral singing
as well as scientific findings about singing in a group.

“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel
A novel set in a future America, post-flu pandemic, where a group of nomadic artists travel from settlement to settlement
performing the classics. A bit sci-fi, but mostly in a “Fahrenheit 451” kind of way–compelling and very much about the survival of culture.

“Dancing with Einstein” by Kate Wenner
A novel inspired by the people involved in the Manhattan Project, the story follows a woman named Marea as she tries to deal with her past–namely, the role her father and family friend Einstein played in the Project, as well as her father’s death. The story moves back and forth in time, giving a sense of both historical novel and coming of age story.

“East is East” by T. C. Boyle
A “black farce” without much heart or insight to it. It’s ironic and wry, but never goes much deeper than that. The plot concerns a young Japanese man who jumps ship en route to America and winds up in backwoods Georgia, filled with both rednecks and the denizens of an artists’ colony.

“Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant” by Roz Chast

“New and Selected Poems” by Mary Oliver
Thanks to the man who shared this for a lovely reading of a few of the poems from this collection! Nature, heart, and spirit abound in these poems.

There you have it! One housekeeping note: due to many scheduling conflicts in December, the group decided to NOT have a meeting. Our next Simply Books! meeting will be on Saturday, January 3rd at 2pm instead.